1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to automatically identify, to facilitate regular periodic inspection, and to provide training and information to personnel on usage of material lifting products. In particular, the present invention is directed to a method and system for identification, inspection and training for material lifting products, such as chain slings, wire rope slings, synthetic slings, blocks, hoist rings, hooks and other associated components.
2. Prior Art
Industrial lifting products or devices take a variety of forms. For instance, lifting products include chain slings and associated components, wire rope slings, synthetic web slings, block, hoist rings, clamps and hooks. Existing lifting products are identified in a number of ways, such as nameplates, name tags and other physical indicia. These may contain identifying information, such as the manufacturer, the serial number, the working load limit, the date of manufacture and the country of origin. The identifying information may be included at the request of the manufacturer or, because of industry or government regulations.
In industrial applications, periodic inspections are performed at the work site to confirm that the equipment is in proper working order. These periodic inspections are done for safety reasons and, increasingly, because of government or industry mandated requirements. These inspections require visual inspection of the lifting product for defects and record keeping of the periodic inspection data. For example, in the case of synthetic web slings, a tear in the synthetic web would be an example of a defect which must be addressed.
Inspections and record keeping may take place under governmental regulation or industry standards such as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Industry standards include ASME B30.9 for all types of slings and ASME B30.26 for rigging hardware including shackles, hooks, blocks and clamps. For example, Section 9-5.8 of ASME B30.9 directed to synthetic web slings requires an initial inspection before using any new, repaired or modified sling. Additionally, periodic inspection is required to meet all of the requirements of the standard. Additionally, Section 9-5.8.2 requires that written inspection records be kept for all slings including a description of the new sling and its condition on each periodic inspection.
Considerable time and effort is involved in performing the periodic inspections and storing the information on the inspections. In many cases, the inspections are performed in the field under adverse conditions. For example, the lifting equipment may be located on or near marine vessels and structures or remote areas in factory plants. The inspection and report writing process is often labor intensive and redundant.
It would be desirable to provide an automated system to provide for the identity, inspection and training regarding material lifting products.
Another factor present in the existing inspection system is that there are often multiple parties involved including the manufacturer, the distributor, the end user and third-party inspection companies, each of which may have their own inspection reporting systems.
It would be desirable to provide a system and method for identification, inspection and training for material lifting products which is uniform.
There have been various uses proposed for radio frequency identification (RFID) tags in the past. Radio frequency identification systems rely on storing and remotely retrieving data using devices called RFID tags or transponders, which contain silicon chips and antennas to enable them to receive and respond to radio frequency queries from an RFID transceiver or reader. RFID tags can be either passive, semi-passive, or active. Passive RFID tags have no internal power supply. Minute electrical current induced in the antenna by an incoming radio frequency signal provides just enough power for an integrated circuit in the tag to power up and transmit a response. Semi-passive RFID tags are similar to passive tags except for the addition of a small battery. Active RFID tags have their own internal power source which is used to power any integrated circuits that generate the outgoing signal.
In each instance, the tag contains a transponder with a digital memory chip. The interrogator, an antenna packaged with a transceiver and decoder emits a signal activating the RFID tag so that it can read and write data to it. The reader decodes the data encoded on the tag's integrated circuit. Application software then processes the data.
For instance, Rehfus et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,382 and U.S. Publication No. 2002/0186134) discloses a transponder, such as a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag embedded or secured into a pocket or chamber of a bearing which contains identification information.
Frieden (U.S. Pat. No. 6,144,301) discloses RFID tags which may be periodically read by a reader unit and the information displayed or transferred electronically including safety and warning label information.
Yamagiwa (U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0206810) discloses a management system for transportation equipment including RFIDs in vehicles which communicate with computers such as servers 10, terminals 20, portable terminals 21 and PDAs.
Nevertheless, none of the foregoing disclose the use of RFID tags and transponders in lifting products which include a multitude of data including identity information, inspection information which may be periodically updated and stored, and training information on use of material lifting products.